Pirates/Lady Pirates win over Intermountain Christian

Michaela Hughes puts one up for Green River.

As most of us were settling into the new year, the Green River Pirates celebrated the first week of January by hosting the Altamont Longhorns for a night on the hardwood in a nonregion home game. The 4-5 Pirates needed a win against the 5-3 Longhorns to right their ship and set them on a winning course for the rest of the season. It took some doing but in the end the Pirates played a great game and came out the victors. After the game, Coach Hughes said that they were out played by the Longhorns but his team never gave up and battled to the end despite the fact that neither team shot well from the free throw line. The Pirates could have avoided a close game by making more than 7 out of 16 from the charity stripe but the same is true of the Longhorns who faired worse by shooting only 6 out of 17.

The Pirates balanced scoring was led by TJ Hughes (12) followed by Jon Mendez (11), Nick Corrigan (10), Adrian Escalante (9) and Chance Pfander (8) and rounded out by Spencer Marshall (4).

After their close home win, the Green River Pirates joined with the lady Pirates and traveled to the big city to take on the Intermountain Christian School Lions. The ladies took to the court first jumping out to an 18-14 first quarter lead followed by a 14-4 second advantage and the lady Pirates never looked back finishing off the lady Lions by a score of 60-36. The lady Pirates only shot 50 percent from the free throw line but Feleisha Antillon used the occasion to record a career high 21 points off of 5 long balls. Jamie Johnson dropped in 13 points by working the inside. Taylor Johnson and Michaela Hughes pulled down 14 and 10 rebounds respectively.

The boys found the cramped gym a bit more challenging to begin with and the tempo escalated as Pirates and the Lions fought for each possession. The Pirates took a 7 point lead, adding to it a 12-5 third quarter advantage and they ended up the victors with a score of 51-39. The Pirates shot poorly from the line making 5 of 11. Six different players knocked down 3-pointers and Hughes dropped down 16 points followed by Marshall with 12.